Senate proposes amendments to ethics bill after constitutional and funding concerns

The Vermont Senate on May 16, 2025, voted to propose to the House amendments to H.1, a bill that would revise how the Vermont State Ethics Commission provides advice when it refers complaints to legislative, judicial and executive entities.

The change follows identification of constitutional problems in a 2024 ethics law and concerns from multiple tribunals and the commission about confidentiality, authority and staffing. The Senate Government Operations Committee reported the amendments as a way to preserve the independent judgment of legislative and judicial bodies while still providing the commission’s view on how the state code of ethics would apply to referred complaints.

Senator David Collamore, the committee reporter (Senator from Rutland District), told the chamber that the 2024 act expanding the commission’s powers had required that legislative panels and judicial boards consult in writing with the State Ethics Commission before taking…